Nom. Nom. Nom. Tasting meditation.
The final sense gate is taste, sensations that arise in the mouth, whether from things we put in our mouth or flavors in the mouth that emanate from our bodies. You can do “tasting meditation.”
Anyone who does any kind of movement practice must fuel the machine (a.k.a., the body). And much of what this practice entails, perhaps the point of meditation in general, is to learn to take this into every part of our lives.
One way is to meditate while you eat.
Follow these basic instructions to meditate on taste:
Start with a simple food you enjoy but won’t scarf down in one bite. Take a small portion and sit down to eat it, preferably at a table. It might help if you need to eat it with silverware. Having the chance to place the silver on the table can be part of the practice.
Cut off a portion smaller than you might normally eat. As you do this, notice any thoughts that arise. These might be judgments about the process, about yourself, or about the food. Simply notice.
Put the portion onto your fork or spoon.
Slowly begin to lift the food to your mouth. As you do so, notice what happens in your mouth, your body, and your mind. Again, sense if judgment arises. Also note if these thoughts or sensations are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
Put the food in your mouth, but don’t chew or swallow. Let it sit on your tongue. This is why it’s helpful to use food that you’re not likely to gobble down.
Especially when you’re first learning to meditate on taste, you need to practice slowly to get the full experience.
With the food in your mouth, sense it fully.
What does it actually taste like? What does it feel like? Notice the texture. What flavors do you experience and where? And does anything radiate in your mouth or even through your body?
Then slowly begin to chew or swallow. Notice, notice, notice.
Are there sensations?
What quality do they have—pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral?
Does anything move or change? Does anything radiate? Do you “feel” the experience in other parts of your body? Do thoughts arise?
Finally, once you have completely chewed and swallowed the food, notice any lingering sensations in your mouth, on your tongue, your gums, your throat. Does this flow into the rest of your body? You might experience an aftertaste, or after-sensations, echoes of the food.
There are no wrong answers. It’s all about the experience, about being in reality. And no, you don’t need to eat this way all the time!
When you eat, you will probably notice all of the senses and have many thoughts. This is why eating is so pleasurable. It literally floods all the sense gates, often with positive sensations. You’ll have pleasant body sensations and anticipatory feelings as you see the food, cut it, bring it to your mouth.
The same will happen when you smell the food. The texture of the food in your mouth may also cause sensations and thoughts to arise. And who doesn’t remember the sound of their teeth piercing the skin of an apple? What a hit of sensation!
I only mentioned taste sensations in the above instructions. But any sensation from any sense gate, including thoughts can be your object when eating. If you begin thinking, acknowledge the thought and gently bring your mind back to the sensations of taste.
During a long run, when I eat or drink during the workout, I focus on taste as my object of meditation. But even if you aren’t eating or drinking, notice any taste or the absence of taste.
I have included more than twenty “Your Turn” exercises in the book Make Every Move a Meditation.
This excerpt is from Make Every Move a Meditation by Nita Sweeney which is available now through Amazon and Mango Media.
